On the Pro/DESKTOP CD there are many included VB applications that are not really documented. This tutorial will explore the use of the CoffeeTime.bas application which can be used to alter lighting inside of the Pro/D photo album.

1. Download the CoffeeTime.bas file (right click chose Save as) and save it in Program Files>PTC>Pro/DESKTOP

*Note that the CoffeeTIme.bas file found on this website has had a few errors corrected in it. It is not the same as what is currently on the Pro/DESKTOP CD

2. Run Pro/DESKTOP

4. In the VB Editor look in the object browser under Modules and you will find the CoffeeTime module list there. Double click it to display the VBA code.

The way the code is written it will create an album rendering of the Coffee assembly in the samples directory with colored lights. The code is hard wired to the coffee assembly but we will show you how to change that. We will dissect the CoffeeTime VB code after we see how it works.

5. In the VB Editor click File>Close & Return to Pro/Desktop

6. In Pro/DEKSTOP click Tools>Macros

7. Make sure you are looking for Macros in ProDESKTOP6, then select the CoffeeTime Macro.

8. RUN

The Macro will run loading the coffee assm and all of the design files that are components in the assembly. The macro will then render the assembly in the photo album.

To see the rendered image, in Pro/D use:
Windows>Album1

You can see that different colored lights have been added to the rendering.

Big Deal eh? Well with some modifications to the macro you can add different lighting to any assembly.

Tools>Macros>VB Editor (not available in the album mode, you must be looking at a design file)

Open up the modules folder in the object browser and double click CoffeeTime to load up the macro

Scroll down through the macro and you can find comments on how to alter this macro.

This first is the directory path to find the assembly in. Then below that is where the assembly name is set in the variable NAME.

Keep going down and you will find the area where materials are applied to each of the individual components. If you want to change the assembly you would have to change this to match the components in the new assembly

Just below you will find where the lights are set up

First, you define the colors for the graduated background via RGB values

Second, you define the light colors via RGB Values

Third, you give the defined lights a position and a direction to shine